Combat Support in Korea

iv i U.S. ARMY IN ACTION SERIES COMBAT SUPPORT IN KOREA by JOHN G. WESTOVER ii Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 54–13365 Facsimile Reprint, 1987, 1990 CMH Pub 22–1 Center of Military History United States Army Washington, D.C. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 iii Foreword The contributions of combat ser vice support soldiers to the success of American armies have often been o verlooked by both historians and the public. Thus, it is altogether fitting that this f irst volume in the Army in Action Series should be John G. Westover’s compilation of shor t, but instructive, pieces on service and support activities during the Korean War. The Center of Militar y History has received many requests for a reprint of this work, which was first published by the Combat F orces Press in 1955; it is a useful companion v olume to Russell A. Gugeler’s Combat Ac- tions in Korea, which was reprinted in 1984 as par t of the Army Historical Series. Both Westover’s subject and technique are w orthy of study and comment. While the details of combat actions in America’s wars have been studied extensively, comparatively little has been done to enlighten the soldier of today regarding how logistical operations were conducted at the small unit level. This book will ser ve to repair that omission. Westover compiled this book primaril y from a series of inter views conducted with men actually involved in the e vents “at g round level.” The oral histor y technique, which Army historians did much to de velop in World War II and later, is now an accepted historical method. The value of oral histor y as a means of getting to the details is amply demonstrated here. The Center of Militar y History is pleased to be ab le to initiate the Army in Action Series with the f irst CMH edition of John G. Westover’s Combat Support in Korea. This is the f irst volume in what we hope will be a series interesting to, and useful for , today’s soldiers and leaders at every level. WASHINGTON, D.C William A. Stofft Brigadier General, U.S. Army Chief of Military History iv v Introduction This book is a collection of inter views with members of all the ar ms and services of the United States Army, except Infantry, Artillery, and Armor. The interviews were collected from se veral hundred officers and enlisted men who were serving, or had served, in the Korean conflict. As I talked with these officers and men I could not help feeling their aggressive spirit. Each realized that his service was essential to combat and that he was moving the operation ahead. But it w as more than just doing a necessary job. It was “do it better,” “do it more quickl y,” and, above all, “get the service as close to the combat soldier as possib le.” These officers and men told of hot meals, dail y laundering of the infantr yman’s socks, helicopter evacuation, ordnance mechanics w orking among the inf antry, and airdrop of flame thro wers at the point of use. I ha ve made their surg- ing spirit the theme of this study. COMBAT SUPPORT IN KOREA grew from the conviction of Maj.Gen. Orlando Ward, Chief of Militar y History (1949–1952), that the United States Army needs a record of its ser vice operations on the small-unit level. Interviews are sometimes better than high-le vel histories. They can widen the novice leader’s experience before he goes into the f ield. They supply illustrations for instr uctors, and they refresh officers who have not recently been in the f ield. They present vividly the problems of the other services with which we are not acquainted. The interview also lets us see how often the service troops experience the hazards of combat. No man in combat gets enough reco gnition, but some men have been denied honors justly earned because the word “Quar- termaster” or “Chemical” w as included in their unit designation. It w on’t dim the glory of the rifleman to gi ve credit to other members of the team. A year of interviewing has gone into this book. Some of the interviews were conducted in K orea by Eighth Army historians, b ut much more of the interviewing was done in the United States with retur nees. In addition, some of the stories have been condensed from speeches, letters, and maga- v vi Introduction zine articles. Much time and patience ha ve been put into these inter views by the men who have served, and who believe that their kno wledge will help the Army. Interviews are not histor y. They are personal accounts. An interview can be no more accurate than the obser vation of the teller, no more tr uth- ful than he is candid. Dif ferent units had dif ferent operating procedures. I cannot say that the operations related here are typical of all operations in Korea, or that the y are better or poorer . These are simply stories related by earnest men. Most interviews were oral. Notes w ere filled in by historians and re- turned to the inter viewee for comment. Ev ery effort has been made to recount the incidents as the y were originally related, with editorial w ork limited to keeping the stor y moving. Most of the stories retur ned from Korea resulted from g roup interviews and are, therefore, in the third per - son. The amount of space de voted to each ser vice is influenced more b y the stories obtained than b y any evaluation of the relati ve importance of sister services. While a majority of the inter views testify to the cor rectness of Army doctrine, some are critical of doctrine and indi viduals. I have usually re- moved the names of the indi viduals criticized because the criticisms are not substantiated and may be unjust, but there has been no change of unit designation and no w hitewashing. The reputation of the United States Army is too great to be diminished by honest criticism of some of its doctrines or a fe w of its members. In this study the historian does not point out violation of doctrines or decide betw een the contradictor y accounts. This is a factual, not a generalizing, study. I cannot credit all of the persons w ho have contributed to this volume. The names of more than a hundred are recorded in the tab le of contents. Special credit, though, is due these historians of Eighth Army: Captains Pierce W. Briscoe, William J. Fox, B. C. Mossman, and Edw ard C. Wil- liamson, and Lieutenants Bevan R. Alexander, Martin Blumenson, and John Mewha. Their contributions are labeled as the y appear. Mr. John E. Lee has had the tr ying job of typing inter views and drafts. Miss Mar y Ann Bacon has made man y editorial suggestions, w hile my wife has been the chief custodian of the b lue pencil and dictionar y. Lt.Col. Joseph Rockis has given endless encouragement throughout the months w hen progress seemed slow. To these, and many more, I give my thanks. JOHN G. WESTOVER Captain, Infantry vii Contents FOREWORD by Brig. Gen. William A. Stofft iii INTRODUCTION by the Author v Part I: Corps of Engineers 3 1 Three River Crossings 5 2 Improvised Bridge 11 3 Causeway at Osan 13 4 Last of the Han Bridges 15 5 End of the Line 17 6 Destruction of Wonju 18 7 Mines Are Double-Edged Weapons 23 8 Learning by Doing 24 9 Disregarding a Minefield 26 10 The Mine that Saved Sinnyong 27 11 Recon Dailey 34 12 Inexpedient Expedients 37 13 The Delay at K-2 38 14 Equipment Without Operators 42 Part II: Transportation Corps 45 1 Critical Transportation 47 2 Truck Platoon in Korea 49 3 Amphibian Truck Company 57 4 Railhead at Masan 60 5 Problems in Railroad Operation 62 6 Railroading in Korea 65 7 Transportation Corps Operations at K-27 66 8 Breakage En Route 68 vii viii Contents Part III: Chemical Corps 71 1 The 2d Chemical Mortar Battalion 73 2 Letters from a Commander 75 3 Smoke Generating 80 4 Napalm Bombs in Korea 81 5 Flame Throwers 83 Part IV: Signal Corps 85 1 Developing a Signal Organization 87 2 Answers Not in Textbooks 88 3 Flexibility of VHF 90 4 The Provost Marshal’s Transmitter 91 5 Relay Station on Hill 1157 93 6 Everyone Wants a Telephone 94 7 The Mukden Cable 95 8 Signal Operations in Korea 97 9 Division Artillery Message Center 98 10 Code 99 11 The World’s Biggest Little Airline 100 12 Division Aerial Photography 102 13 Combat Cameraman 104 Part V: Medical Corps 107 1 Battalion Forward Aid Station 109 2 Evacuation at Soksa-ri 110 3 Helicopter Evacuation 111 4 Optical Treatment in the Field 113 5 Dental Treatment in the Field 114 6 Changing the Mission 115 7 Operation of the 8076th MASH 116 Part VI: Ordnance Corps 121 1 Mobile ASP 123 2 Artillery and Hand Grenades 125 3 The Van Fleet Rate of Fire 126 4 Division Ordnance Work 127 5 Close Ordnance Support 128 6 Attempted Tank Evacuation 132 7 Operation Failure 135 Contents ix Part VII: Quartermaster Corps 139 1 Division Supply Operations 141 2 Quartermaster Problems and Services 150 3 Delivery by Air 153 4 Service Company Runs Depot 159 5 Testing Equipment in Korea 161 6 Rations in Korea 162 7 UN Approval of U.

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